All Things Come to an End

It struck me as strange but appropriate to read about the cancellation of the daytime soap opera "Guiding Light" a few days after the anniversary of my mother's death in 2003. My late mother was a devoted fan of the soap, having followed it from radio to television and I remember her watching it every day. In fact, it was such a fixture in her life that I watched when I was sick, unable to attend school. After her death, I only caught a glimpse of it once in a waiting room at a clinic, recognizing only one actor and marveling how much it had gone downhill. Apparently, budgets became minuscule as ratings declined and they were using digital cameras.

I suspect the growth of "reality" television eroded the salacious appeal of the daytime soaps, now viewers can watch real people exhibit scandalous behavior in narcissistic bids for fame and fortune. How could fictional characters compete with sad madness and dissolution of actual people? Of course, the change to the culture of women working, even if married, had a lot to do with the declining ratings.

Personally, I think soap operas did great damage to the fabric of our society, with the constant infidelity, lying, scheming, and torn apart families. This was a very bad influence, especially on the teenage girls who watched it. So I'm not mourning the passing of the show.